Malice Domestic--Malice for short--is the annual fan convention that celebrates the traditional mystery. Hard-boiled, noir, and gritty crime novels need not apply. On the other hand, a wider range of mystery fiction than I expected did appear. Woo-woos, cat mysteries, comedic romps, historicals (some with quite dark edges), puzzles, espionage, PIs (a distinct minority), police procedurals, and, yes, traditional cozies were all represented. Roberta Rogow was right--cozy doesn’t mean what it used to be.
It was my first Malice. I had a helluva good time. I spent considerable time being surprised.
I was surprised by the amount of swag I got for my registration fee. 12 books, 3 magazines, the big, glossy Malice guide, and a really nice tote bag. I didn’t expect such a haul, Friday had few sessions I wanted to get to, and I scheduled myself for a trip to the Folger to a) get my researcher’s card renewed and b) do some research. With the fabulous amount of swag, I walked the mile from Union Station to the Folger. When the research didn’t pan out--just what do 18th century Archdeacons do?--I trooped back to Union Station. Thank the Almighty & Washington, DC for the Metro.
The convention hotel, the Hyatt in Bethesda, is parked right on top of Bethesda Metro station. Yeah. It made it very convenient for a day tripper like me. All I had to do was drive down to Shady Grove, a 30 minute drive, and hop on the Metro for a 20 minute ride to Bethesda.
It also made it very convenient for the out of town crowd, most of which seemed to be from the East Coast. All you had to do was fly into National, get on the Metro, take the Yellow line to Gallery Place, change to the Red Line then go to Bethesda. Bada-boom, bada-bing.
For someone who’s only been to Bouchercon, Malice surprised me a couple of different ways. It’s smaller, it’s more intimate, it’s friendlier. Everybody’s willing to talk to everybody else. Alice Loweecey sat down at my table in the small cafe, and we had quite the chat. I bought her book, FORCE OF HABIT, about an ex-nun who ends up working to become a PI. I finished it yesterday, sitting in the sun. Got a sunburn in the process. I also met Gail Oust, Maggie Sefton, and Nancy Means Wright.
My friend James described it as the biggest annual family reunion. I believe it.
Carole Nelson Douglas was the guest of honor. I wanted to go to the interview Nancy Pickard was going to do with her, but I didn’t make it. I had more than my usual mid-afternoon crash on Saturday. I’d missed the first panel, scheduled for 8:45am, but I more than made up for it with a chat with the co-publisher of Felony and Mayhem (www.felonyandmayhem.com). I did make it the session chaired by my friend James, which was in the next time slot. The funny session was “Things We Wish We Hadn’t Written”. It was packed, too, but, at least, it was the ballroom.
I came back for “Hup, Two, Three, Four: Mysteries Affected by War”. That one was a bit harrowing. War affects everybody it touches and not in a good way. One of my convention favorites, Frankie Y Bailey was on this panel, and she was, as usual, really good. I’ve really got to get around to reading her books. One thing she said that resonated with me: she had to decide on her vision for her novel.
What is my vision for my novel? Good question. I’ve got to answer that more fully. At least I know UNQUIET JUSTICE is a crime novel. What else is it?
I took a break, got some tea, and shook myself awake before I went to “World Building: Making the Past Come Alive”. I have to say, this panel ticked me off. The panel made some good points about not pouring everything you’ve discovered into the novel--the story first, then the history. However, they were all women, of a certain age, who still think that the only condition for women in the past was oppression, that women in the past couldn’t have adventurous lives.
Several of these authors got around the societal constraints by having their heroines cross-dress. Yes, it happened, but not frequently. As a plot device, cross-dressing is, in my eyes, too much the cliché. Hell, as far as I’m concerned, it was a cliché when Shakespeare pulled it--and it wasn’t new to him.
I don’t have much patience with feminism to start with, but I have no patience with the idea that women in the past lived in oppressive condition. Concomitantly, all men must be tyrants. By whose standards? By theirs or ours? The majority of this panel was guilty of the sin of presentism. Presentism is the judging of the past by the present or the far past judged by the immediate past.
They didn’t acknowledge gender roles for both sexes, or that social rank and/or class matters. I’ll address these issues in a coming blog on the fully gendered novel. What was that about vision?
Now, being a solo day-tripper means I skipped the Agatha banquet and any hanging out in the bar. That is something I regret. It also means that getting up early on Sunday morning is not much fun. Yes, I was late for the first Sunday session and, frankly, missed it. I needed another cup of tea, anyway.
I did make “Behind the Curtain” on unusual settings, where I met Joyce and Jim Lavene. We had a good talk about cats, and when I found out that they do a series--a “fun series”, in their words--in Duck, NC, well, I had to buy it. My husband has spent innumerable Thanksgivings in Duck, and I’ve been there several times. The Lavenes are right--the only time you’ve got the place to yourself is when it’s cold. (That’s a paraphrase from their book, A TIMELY VISION. It’s good.)
I made the one I really, really wanted to get to--”Keeping it Real: When Real People become Fictional Characters”. Working with famous people can be very limiting, and that’s why Daniel Stashower moved his Harry Houdini into an early period of Houdini’s life that’s much less documented. It gives him more freedom. Nancy Means Wright uses the gaps in Mary Wollenstonecraft’s life. (See MIDNIGHT FIRES and the forthcoming THE NIGHTMARE.) Of course, working with somebody nobody knows or cares about, like James A Garfield, gives plenty of freedom, too.
The problem lies in keeping track of when and where these people were. Nancy said that at one point she was working with three, separate time lines. It’s considerably easier when it’s only one timeline--the chronology of the period you’re in--to worry about.
I wanted to meet Nancy. She and I both are on CrimeThruTime, an online community of writers, aspiring writers, and readers who appreciate historical mystery. I answered some questions for her and suggested a website and a podcast or two. She mentions me in her acknowledgements in THE NIGHTMARE, and I wanted to thank her.
I skipped the interview with Sue Grafton. I’ve never been able to get into her novels. Perhaps I should try again because it has been many years since I first tried, and my tastes have changed considerably over time.
Malice closes with the Agatha Tea. Don’t be late. If you are, you won’t get a seat. I ended up at the dealers’s empty table, and barely got a cup of tea. No goodies. That’s the penalty for being late, and I accept it. (The dealers’s got sent to their own room, and somebody had to make a fuss to get their goodies sent up to them.) I did get to hear part of Caroline Todd’s interview with John Curran, who edited AGATHA CHRISTIE’S SECRET NOTEBOOKS.
When the interview was over, we broke up and Malice was over. Not to worry. I’ll go back next year.